Over the last few months I have been struggling with motivation,  initially due to low iron levels in my blood brought about by poor diet in a vain attempt to lose weight and lately with a bout of every runners worst nightmare, plantar fasciitis. (No, this is not something you pick up in a Swedish brothel, more a tear in the large tendon at the bottom of your foot.) I’ve had Plantar Fasciitis three times in my running career but this is the worst by far.

It is an injury where recovery can take anything from days to months or even years in bad cases. I know it has finished the careers of many fine runners. The previous two times I suffered were probably down to poor show choices when faced with difficult terrain. As you can see from the image below in 2012 I wore Nike Luna Racers when I ran the 6 Inch Trail Ultra Marathon. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) Although I ran a great time Luna Racers are  built for track or asphalt, not an off-road trail ultra where the bottom of your foot takes a good old fashioned beating due to poor shoe choice.  I was lucky enough that it was a mild case and I was able to continue training albeit I suffered the morning hobble to the bathroom that all PF sufferers experience as blood returns to the tendon after sleeping horizontally all night. Apparently you can purchase splints to wear while you sleep but I was always wary of these as Mrs. Matthews may think I was being kinky and she can be hard to fight off when she has the bit between her teeth, so to speak … (That was a joke by the way just in case No1 Wife reads this… )

The second time I picked up a small case of PF was when I started to ramp up my running in 2013 and even a cortisone from my favourite Doctor didn’t help. Again it was mild enough that it didn’t affect my training and the ‘hobble to the bathroom’ was soon replaced by my usual ‘gazelle like spring’.

This time though the ‘hobble to the bathroom’ turned into a limp/hop, at best, and running was a no-no. Another cortisone was dispatched but yet again with little effect. My old mate Voltaren helped but popping pills, long term, never ends well. So it was a few weeks of no running and lots of ‘rolling the water bottle filled with ice’. This is the tried and tested best method for treating PF and has always worked for me.  As you can see from the Strava image below ( In Strava we trust… http://www.strava.com , follow me on Strava by clicking on the link on the main page , towards the bottom) PF can cause large blocks of ‘rest’  which for a runner is not something we enjoy doing. As I’ve always said ‘I’ll rest in my box!’………

So is there light at the end of the tunnel ? . At the moment I can say ‘maybe’, I have ramped up the mileage this week and I am confident I’m on top of my PF issues but it means running on trails and grass only and avoiding my beloved asphalt. I’ve made the training more interesting by running in Kings Park, which is stunning and trying to hit as many sandy trails as possible. Adding elevation also helps and I’m confident with 6 weeks to go until the Perth City to Surf Marathon I’ll be in with a good chance to continue my 27 in a row sub 3 streak.

So what brought on PF case number three, probably the infamous steeplechase in racing flats in April this year for the Australian Masters championships, I feel maybe, just maybe, my water jump technique needs something to be desired….maybe.

For all those sufferers of the ‘bathroom hobble’ I recommend these activities, in no order of importance.

• Never go bare feet anywhere and if possible trainers at all time.
• Calf raises as much as possible, and off a step is best. This will strengthen the calf and stop it pulling on the PF tendon.
• Anti-inflammatories help but these are not a long term solution of course. (Voltaren is my poison of choice)
• Rolling a water bottle filled with ice under your affected foot is another exercise that helps.

If you need more information on Plantar Fasciitis it’s all on the interweb , like all things these days, so let your fingers do the walking…